Retired from the University of Texas and too old to play soccer anymore. Now, in the twilight of his years, time is spent writing in this blog, hiking and exploring Texas Parks, photography, working out, gardening and tending to the five ponds he built .

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One Man’s Story – Chapter 21

I drove home slowly thinking about the evenings events. It appeared that Valerie was not having an affair with Jody but in fact setting her sites on me. How did I feel about that? I thought about it more as I pulled into the driveway. Jody’s car was not in its usual spot so I let myself in to find what was becoming the usual note “Out with friends, be back in a while, don’t wait up”.

I grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat down in front of the TV and then wandered off to bed. Jody did not come home that night and did not return until after I had left for work. I had left her a note telling her where I would be and if she wanted to talk about, to find me.

I returned back to the Office around lunch time to be greeted by Pat looking as radiant as ever. “Your wife called and want’s you to give her a call at the house” she said. I picked up the phone and dialed the house number. Jody answered and after a very brief conversation asked me to come home. When I pulled up in the driveway, Jody’s car doors were open as was the trunk and I could see signs of someone moving out.

I walked into the house and called for her. “Up here” she said “I am in the bedroom” When I walked in, she had suitcases partly packed and clothes everywhere. It looked like she was moving out. Either that or holding a garage sale and I didn’t think that was the case. “Sit down, we need to talk” she said. So I sat on the bed as did she. “We need to talk about our future together” Jody said. “I take it this does not come as a real surprise to you”. I nodded not trusting myself to speak for fear of uttering the wrong thing. “There is no easy way to say this” Jody said “I want a divorce from you and I want to say a few things before this gets messy”.

I sat there conscious of the fact that my hands were sweaty and that I could feel the rage rising up inside of me as I fought to control it. I could understand her wanting a divorce as things had really reached the point where the marriage had become one of convenience. “First of all, none of this is your fault. You have been a very good husband and lover to me and for that I am grateful. We both know that things have been getting steadily worse in our relationship and we had already lost what we had in the beginning. What I didn’t know was how much my feelings have changed towards you. I have been seeing another man and we have fallen in love and now I want to marry him”. My mind did a quick double take as I realized that Valerie was not involved in any way. I had a feeling of relief that maybe there was still hope for her and I getting something together out of all of this.

I sat there for a minute mulling this over. Although it was not something that I expected, it still came as a real shock that Jodi was actually making a move to end our marriage. I sat there numb thinking of the future. The silence was very heavy but I realized that Louisa’s warning was only partly true. Jody and Valerie were not a couple and Jody was in love with another man. I turned to face her and said “No chance that you will change your mind”? She looked at me and said “You are the sweetest and kindest man in the world and have never done me any wrong. It is me that shoulders the blame for this but honestly, after experiencing the love that I have found for this other man, for me, there is no turning back”. “Not someone I know, is it”? hoping against hope that it wasn’t. “No, I don’t think you two know each other” she said

I sat for a while thinking things over. This was exactly what Louisa had warned me about and her predictions were coming true. I turned to Jody and said “OK, I’ll give you your divorce. How soon before you move out”? Jody said “Now, tonight and I’ll stop by tomorrow and pick up the rest of my things. Valerie has said I can stay at her house for a few days until I get things sorted out”. I turned to her and said “I hope that you will be very happy and that we can at least stay friends after things have quieted down for a bit”. I’m not sure if that was me talking the truth or trying to find a good way to get out of there before I punched the living daylights out of her. I stood up ready to leave. “I am going out. Don’t be here when I get back if you are going through with this”.

I drove around for a while trying to get my thoughts in order. Things were beginning to fall into place. Jody was moving out having fallen in love with another man. This meant that Valerie was still there for the taking and then there was Patricia who had already made me an offer.

I found myself in front of Louisa’s house. I sat there for a while trying to decide if I should go inside. Louisa appeared at the door and waved to me. I got out of the car and followed her inside and slowly shut the door….